Feed-trough



(No Model.)

A. C. GETTEN.

FEED THOUGH.

Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

N. PUZRS. Phnlomhogmphlf. Wnhngim D C4 UNiTED STATES PaTENT @Tirrena ALBERT C. GE'ITFN, OI? (lIIICL-it-lif), ILLINOIS.

FEEDeTROUGH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,258, dated March l2, 1889.

Application Filed July 28, 1888i Serial No. 281,278. (No modela To all whom it may concern..-

Be Yil known that I, ALBERT C. GETTEN, a eit-izen ol the United States, residing' at Cl1i cago, iu the county ot Cool: and State of Illinois, have inreuted certain new and useful Improvements in Stocltffroughs, ot' which I do declare thc following to be a full, clear7 and exact description, reference being' had to the accompanying' drawings, formingl part ol. this speci lcatiou.-

My present invention has l'or its objef'et lo provide an improved construction ot' trough adapted l'or supplying` salt or t'eed lo sioelc, and designed to be opened by the weight ol the stoel; upon the platform and to be autoA uiatieally elosed when ihe stoek has passed troni olii" the platform, the purpose of the auy toniatie closingol' the trough beingl mainly to freely swung; bat-.kward over the eorrespondingly-curi'ed roof otl the trough. It will be readily understood, however, that, while I prefer to forni the trough. with a curved root and provided with a correspondiugly-curved cover, the invention is not limited fosueh construe tion.

In order to facilitate the baeltward Inovenieut of the cover (il, l preferably provide the pla-tes I) with what tor convenience I term the power!! )looks fil', over which pass the cables E, the lower ends ot which are connected to the inner end olf the trcadle or platform F. These blocks d are shown as ot' curved shape, although it is obvious that the shape may be Varied, and, it desired7 a sprocket wheel and chain may be substituted for the curved block and cable; I have found by pinctiee1 howproteet its ci'n'u'ents from the weather` as deover, that these curved blocks aliford a con VVices ot' this kind are primarily designed for supplying,` salt or Yfeed for stock iu the fields.

To this end my invention consists in the novel features of construction7 hereinafter described, illustrated in the aecoinpanyingI drawing-s, and particularlx pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

ligure l is a perspective view ot' a stoel;- trough embodying' my invention. liig. is an cud View ihoreot'. Fig'. is ali'raeiiional View, in vertical lougit'uclinal section, through one end of the trough.

,In the embodiment of i113v in vention shown by the annexedv drawings, A designates the inain body of the trough, that may be sustained in any suitable or convenient inanner-as, for example, by a trestle-franie, I3, resting upon or staked to the ground. The upper front portion ot' the trough A is open t0 permit the stock to have access to the contents of the trough, and by preference the rear portion of the top of the trough is furnished with a curved roof corresponding in curvature to the cover C, in order to allow the cover to inove freely away from and eX- pose the open portion of the trough. This cover C is preferably extended beyond the ends of the trough, and is connected to the plates or brackets D, that are piroted to the ends of the trough A by means of suitable pins or bolts, d; and from this construction it will be seen that when access is to be had to the contents of the trough the cover C can be Venient means `lor attaching the cables to the plates or brackets I) at a distance lroin the pirot-points thereof, so that the power ot the tractioircables can be exerted upon the plates at a suitable dista-nce from suoli pivot-points.

yThe outer end of the platform or treadle F rests upon the ground, while its inner end is elcwated normallyY above the ground by the action ol' the counter-weights @that are con# ueeted by the retracting-calles lI through the i cover C.

From the construction as thus far defined it will be seen that when the cattle tread upon the platform or trei'idle F its inner end will be depressed and the connection or cable E will cause the plates or brackets D to oscillate about their pivot-points, and will thus cause the cover C to more backward and expose the opening` oi the trough. As the coi-'er C is thus caused to oseillate in backward direction, the counter-weights G will be drawn npward, so that when the pressure upon the platform is removed the counter-weights will serve to draw the cover forward to again close the trough. In order to enable the counterweights to act at all times with certainty upon the cover, irrespective of the distance to which it may be thrown backward, I prefer to provide the front extensions, c, one at each side ot the cover, over which extensions the cables H of the counter-weights will be trained, and

it is thus apparent that the counter-weights will at all times exert their pressure at the ICO same distance from the pivot-points of the plates E and will act uniformly upon the cover. It is obvious that a spring or springs may be employed for restoring the cover D to its normally-closed position instead of the counter-weights shown, and when the counter-weights are hereinafter specified I wish the equivalency of springs for such Weights to be distinctly recognized.

It will thus be seen that by my improved trough the salt or other material contained therein will be securely preserved against the effects of the weather when the cover is in closed position, while at the same time ready access to the contents can at all times be had by the cattle. In order to enable the cattle to pass onto the platform F -at its lowest point, I prefer to provide the bars K, one ateach side of the platform and extending to a point near its front. By this means the cattle are compelled to pass onto the platform at the point where it rests upon the ground; and this is of importance, since in thus passing upon the platform the initial downward movement of the platform is so slight that all danger of frightening the cattle, as would be apt to occur if the outer end of the platform were elevated a considerable distance, is avoided.

y providing the end plates or brackets of the cover with connections attached thereto near their pivot-points and leading` therefrom to the platform, it is obvious that a much lighter movement or depression of the platform is necessary in order to effect the opening of the trough than would be required if the connections extended from the platform to the cover itself. This feature is of importance, inasmuch as a downward movement of the platform to any great extent will not only frighten the cattle, bu t will also have a greater tendency to break the apparatus. Moreover, the power-blocks attached to the brackets adjacent their pivot-points enable the cables to operate throughout the downward movement of the platform and thus effect the full opening` of the trough.

-While I have described and illustrated in the drawings the trough as provided at each end with mechanism for transmitting motion from the platform to the cover, it will be readily understood that one set of such mechanism only may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and to such duplicate sets, therefore, I do not wish to be understood as restricted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a stock-trough, of a cover, pivoted plates or arms for controlling the movement of said cover, suitable con nections attached to said plates or arms near the points at which they are pivoted to said cover, said connections extending downwardly at one side of the vertical plane through said pivot-points, and a treadle or platform attached to said connections, whereby a comparatively slight movement of the treadle or` platform will cause the full movement of said cover, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a stock-trough, of a cover, pivoted plates or arms for controlling the movement of said cover, power-blocks connected with said arms or plates, a treadle or platform, and cables connecting said powerblocks and said treadle or platform, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a stock-trough, of a curved cover, plates or arms for pivotally connecting said lid to the ends of the trough, powerblocks connected with said plates or arms near their pivot-poi nts, a cable passing over said blocks, and a platform connected to said cable, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a stock-trough, 0f a Cover, pivoted plates or arms connected to said cover, power-blocks connected to said plates or arms near their pivot-poi nts, a treadle or platform connected to said power-blocks, and retracting-cables connected to said cover at a distance from the pivot-points, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a stock-trough, of a cover, pivoted arms or plates connected to said cover,`a treadle or platform, a connection attached to said treadle or platform and attached also to the pivot arms or plates at a distance from their pivot-points, and retracting-cables connected with the cover at 'a greater distance from the pivot-points of the plates or arms than connections that extend to the treadle, substantially as described.

ALBERT C. GETTEN.

llitnesses:

Guo. P. FIsHER, J r., I. B. CARPENTER. 

